Essential Linux macOS Dev Commands Essential Linux macOS Dev Commands | Zhiwei Li

Essential Linux macOS Dev Commands | Generated by AI

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Question: What are the commonly used terminal commands (like ls, pwd, ps) in macOS or Linux for development?

Answer:

Here is a comprehensive reference of frequently used terminal commands for developers on macOS and Linux, organized by category.

📁 Navigation & Directory

Command Description Example
pwd Print current working directory pwd
ls List files in current directory ls -la
cd Change directory cd ~/projects
mkdir Create a new directory mkdir my-app
rmdir Remove an empty directory rmdir old-folder
find Search for files/directories find . -name "*.js"

Useful ls flags:

  • ls -l — long listing with permissions, size, date
  • ls -a — show hidden files (dotfiles)
  • ls -la — combine both

📄 File Operations

Command Description Example
touch Create an empty file touch index.js
cp Copy file or directory cp file.txt backup.txt
mv Move or rename file mv old.js new.js
rm Remove file rm -rf dist/
cat Print file content cat package.json
less Page through file content less app.log
head Show first N lines head -20 log.txt
tail Show last N lines (great for logs) tail -f server.log
nano / vim Text editors in terminal vim config.yaml

🔍 Search & Text

Command Description Example
grep Search text inside files grep -r "TODO" ./src
sed Stream editor, find & replace sed 's/foo/bar/g' file.txt
awk Text processing / pattern scanning awk '{print $1}' file.txt
wc Count lines/words/chars wc -l file.txt
sort Sort lines of text sort names.txt
uniq Remove duplicate lines sort file.txt \| uniq

⚙️ Process Management

Commands like ps, kill, and top/htop are essential for process management on both macOS and Linux.

Command Description Example
ps Show running processes ps aux
top Real-time process viewer top
htop Enhanced process viewer (install via Homebrew) htop
kill Kill a process by PID kill -9 1234
pkill Kill process by name pkill node
jobs List background jobs in shell jobs
bg / fg Resume job in background/foreground fg %1
& Run command in background node server.js &
lsof List open files (find what’s using a port) lsof -i :3000

🌐 Network & HTTP

curl and wget are essential for transferring data to or from a server, particularly useful for testing APIs. ssh is used for securely connecting to remote servers, which is fundamental for deployment workflows.

Command Description Example
curl Transfer data via URL / test APIs curl -I https://example.com
wget Download files from the web wget https://example.com/file.zip
ssh Secure shell into remote server ssh user@192.168.1.1
scp Securely copy files to/from remote scp file.txt user@host:/path
ping Test network connectivity ping google.com
netstat Show network connections netstat -an
ifconfig / ip Show network interface info ifconfig (macOS)
nslookup DNS lookup nslookup google.com

🗜️ Archives & Compression

Command Description Example
tar Archive files tar -czvf archive.tar.gz ./dist
tar (extract) Extract archive tar -xzvf archive.tar.gz
zip / unzip Zip and unzip files zip -r out.zip ./folder
gzip Compress a file gzip file.txt

🔐 Permissions & Ownership

Command Description Example
chmod Change file permissions chmod +x script.sh
chown Change file owner chown user:group file.txt
sudo Run command as superuser sudo npm install -g yarn
whoami Show current user whoami

💻 System Info & Disk

Command Description Example
df Disk free space df -h
du Disk usage of directory du -sh ./node_modules
uname System info uname -a
uptime How long system has been running uptime
env Show environment variables env
export Set environment variable export NODE_ENV=production
echo Print text / variable value echo $PATH
history Show command history history
clear Clear terminal screen clear

🛠️ Developer-Specific

git is the cornerstone of version control — command-line proficiency is invaluable even if you also use GUI tools.

Command Description Example
git Version control git log --oneline --graph --all
npm / yarn / pnpm Node.js package managers npm install
brew Homebrew package manager (macOS) brew install htop
docker Container management docker ps, docker-compose up
python3 / node Run scripts python3 app.py
which Find location of a command which node
alias Create command shortcuts alias ll='ls -la'
xargs Build command from input find . -name "*.log" \| xargs rm
tee Read stdin and write to file + stdout npm test \| tee results.txt
man Show manual for a command man grep

🔗 Pipe & Redirection (Essential Concepts)

Operator Description Example
\| Pipe output to another command ps aux \| grep node
> Redirect output to file (overwrite) echo "hello" > file.txt
>> Append output to file echo "line" >> file.txt
< Use file as input sort < names.txt
2>&1 Redirect stderr to stdout cmd > out.txt 2>&1

💡 Tips

  • Use Ctrl + C to cancel a running command
  • Use Ctrl + Z to suspend, then bg to run in background
  • Use !! to repeat the last command
  • Use Tab for autocomplete
  • Use man <command> to read the full manual for any command

References:

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